CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Skye
“No! I don’t want to stay here,” Princess Buttercup yowls in complaint the next evening, one fluffy paw batting at her cat bed as if it’s offended her.
“I have to go and decorate the Town Hall for the Valentine’s Day Dance.” Fudging fudge, simply saying the word “dance” makes my squishy jelly heart hurt. All I can imagine is being in Luke’s arms, his powerful body leading mine as we move together. “Trust me, if I could get out of it, I would.”
A dance and Valentine’s and seeing happy couples everywhere? Normally, these things make me swoon and dream of finding a love of my own. But right now, I’m too raw, and it’s the last thing I need.
But Mrs. Greely would never forgive me, and she’d make sure the entire little old lady gossip network would turn against me, too.
It would be unbearable and inescapable. That’s the flip side of life in a small town: you see everyone constantly, whether you want to or not.
The thought of disappointed looks and slight social snubs makes the people pleaser in me give a full-body cringe.
“Come here.” I pat my lap. I’ve wallowed on my couch all day, burritoed in my comfiest blanket.
I wish I was the heroine of Dance of Desire, able to nightclub my way through the book’s third-act breakup.
But a couple has to be together to break up, and Luke and I don’t count, so I’m moping instead.
It hasn’t helped. Normally, I’d read A Princess Bride to feel better, but now…
Snickerdoodle! Will I ever be able to read it again? Or will I be haunted with visions of Luke, one huge hand wrapped over the book’s spine, holding it close exactly like I want him to hold me?
Princess Buttercup leaps up and allows me to scratch her cheeks, my fingers digging into the long silky fur until she starts to purr and her eyes drift closed. “I want you to know I’m still mad.” My cat opens one eye to glare at me. “I’m only purring because this feels good.”
My lips twitch. “Noted.”
After I do a lot more scratching and fussing over her, Princess Buttercup finally settles onto my lap. She lets out a dramatic sigh, her little sides lifting and falling with the sound. “I don’t want to be mad at you, especially when you’re sad. But I don’t want to be here alone.”
“This is our home. You’ve lived here for years, and you never seemed unhappy.”
“That’s because I didn’t know anything else. But after the castle, this house feels so…”
Empty. Hollow. Libraryless. These are the words that leap to mind. Libraryless isn’t a real word, but it totally should be. Any house that’s not Luke’s castle, no matter how grand, feels utterly libraryless.
“… small. It just feels too small,” she says.
“I know what you mean.” I run my hand down her back. “How about you and I try something new from now on?”
She gazes at me with avid amber eyes. “I’m listening.”
“Now that you’re my familiar, we can talk and you understand human things.”
“Humans are still confusing and wrong most of the time. You eat far too many things that aren’t chicken, for instance.” She pats me with her paw. “But it’s true I understand more than I used to.”
“Okay, so… what if you go more places with me, like to the library or the bookstore? You could also visit the walking tulips, rolling pumpkins, and flying hearts while I shop downtown.”
“Yesss,” she hisses with delight, kneading her paws into my thighs.
“You’d have to be good and actually obey if I told you to do something,” I say.
“I really mean it. There are still dangers you’re not used to, such as dogs and kelpies.
” The fae waterhorses are huge and mean, and even though Rune now protects the town from fae threats, he’s only one werewolf. He can’t be everywhere all the time.
“I promise.”
My phone chimes an alarm.
“Time to go decorate. Come on. You can play with the tulips, pumpkins, and hearts while I’m busy.”
“I like this idea.” She hops down. “We can make this work.”
I’m glad I’ve got a fix for my familiar, though I wish it were as easy for me to get over losing the castle with its massive library and grumpy, gorgeous owner.
When I drop Princess Buttercup off at the greenhouse, she goes galloping into the greenery, with the tulips and pumpkins rolling after. A mass of flying hearts swoops out of the dogwood tree, adding to the chase.
“Are there even more of them?” I mutter to myself as I squint. Hoo, boy, there are! The new ones are pink. They’re intermixed with the original red, the two groups merging into one large flock. It seems the animating witch has struck again.
Hannah waits for me in the Town Hall’s meeting room, which has been transformed. The podium’s gone, and most of the chairs have been stored away, only a few left lining the walls. The refreshment table sits against the back wall, opening up the space for the dance.
My bestie’s official mayor keychain jingles as she wraps me in a hug. “How you doing?”
“Okay.”
She pulls back to study my face. “No, you’re not.”
“You’re right. I’m not.” Tears prickle my eyes. “But I need to be okay for now. It’s the only way I’ll get through all the decorating without crying.” It’s going to be a few hours of work at least.
“About that. You’re not decorating alone this year.”
The door opens behind us with the sound of multiple footsteps and the rustling of clothes. In a blink, I’m surrounded by several of the Witch Bitches, the center of a group hug, with Autumn, Kayla, Violetta, and Jasmine piling on.
“Feeling better?” Kayla asks.
“What I feel like is the filling in a human burrito,” I wheeze.
Autumn chirps, “If you can talk, we’re not hugging hard enough.”
At her words, they all squeeze tighter for a moment, until I really can’t breathe. But being wrapped in their care feels amazing—I wouldn’t stop them for the world. It unlocks everything inside me, and the tears finally come, streaming down my cheeks as I let out a choked sob.
“Oh, honey, no!” Jasmine says as they finally peel away.
Violetta presses a tissue into my hands with a gentle squeeze of my fingers.
Thunderclouds gather on Kayla’s face. “Give me the word, and I’ll make him pay. I don’t know how, but I’ll do it.”
“You won’t be the only one,” Autumn says, fire flashing in her eyes.
“What happened?” Hannah pulls me over to a chair.
My mouth opens, and everything pours out of me in a rush. Discovering how to stop my spell, the way Luke told me I was going home and stormed off, and calling Naomi to get me out of there as fast as possible.
Waiting all day for a grumpy knock at my door, dying a little inside with each quiet minute that passed.
“He didn’t… he didn’t do anything wrong,” I finish, the words hiccupping out of me. “He just didn’t want me around without the spell forcing us to be together.”
“Then he’s a fool.” Kayla shoves a hand through her purple hair.
He’s not, though. Luke’s the smartest person I know.
“You need a drink.” Autumn pats my shoulder. “Let’s get this decorating done, then take you back to yours and get you shitfaced.”
“I’m in,” Violetta says, Jasmine nodding in agreement.
“Me too.” Kayla strips off her puffy winter coat, exposing today’s T-shirt: Don’t talk to me unless you’re willing to pay chocolate tax.
I sit up straight, swipe at my cheeks, and list several things to do.
Hannah takes control like the leader she is and starts delegating tasks, and in no time at all, the decorations are out of storage and being strung up everywhere. I pull her aside. “I’ve got one last idea, but it’s going to take Severin’s help.”
“Tell me.”
When I do, she makes it happen, and in less than an hour, I’m back in my car with Princess Buttercup, Hannah driving us to my house as the others follow.
Autumn enters my kitchen with two huge bottles of wine, one red, one white.
“Where did you get those?”
“I stopped by Your Bubbly Charm and grabbed them.”
“Since when do you sell alcohol?” I ask. Autumn’s shop carries her artisanal soaps in the front and fae-bespelled crystals and candles behind the counter.
“I don’t.” The redhead shrugs. “But we had bottles left over from the store’s grand opening, and what better use than this?”
Violetta finds a jumbo package of pizza rolls in my freezer and pops them into the oven.
Autumn pours drinks.
Kayla brings chips from her car, explaining before anyone can ask, “Gamers always have snacks.”
Jasmine digs an emergency pack of Oreos out of the pantry, and spreads them across a plate.
Normally, I’d have homemade goodies to offer everyone. It really says something that I was too upset to stress bake today.
While everyone’s busy, Hannah chivvies me into my cat pajama onesie, the one I love best because of its calico pattern.
“You look like me!” Princess Buttercup prances around my legs, her tail held high like a flag of triumph. “I approve.”
When the pizza rolls are done, the Witch Bitches scatter across my living room, eating and drinking and talking and keeping me company.
Shoring up my silly squishy heart.
The best friends any witch could want.